Done & Dusted.

We don't live where we do because it's convenient. we live where we do because it is beautiful. The price tag comes in the inconveniences.  It is a lot harder to do certain things. It takes more planning because you can't just hop in a car & drive yourself ~ or get on a bus... or even get on a boat.  Nope.  Some boats are unbelievably crowded &  it is cheaper to travel off peak when possible.

So when I broke my glasses, again! I scrounged round for an old pair to make do with until someone was going to the mainland.  As that turned out, that was Wednesday, when we went over to pick up our mainland car.

And because we live where we do we buy a lot of stuff on~line & wait for it to arrive by mail.  We bought the car on~line; pity they couldn't post it.

So how many islanders does it take to buy a car? In our case ~ 3.  One whose car we borrowed to get to the car yard; one to drive us all there & one to drive the new car home.  We all had errands to do before heading off to Ipswich, which is over an hour away & pretty much guaranteed to make me car~sick , which it did.   Can't take me anywhere.  I have been known to throw up after the 2 minute trip up to our shops.

Ipswich is Bogansville Incorporated ~ a label I'm sure most Ipswichites don't appreciate but hey, when roof hopping is a thing in your city...& it's stinking hot or freezing cold, completely lacking in charm or views.  Pretty much it's the half~way pit stop between Brisbane & Toowoomba, somewhere you drive through on your way to somewhere else.  Anywhere else.  Neither the MOTH nor his mum had ever been there.  I had & in my view it's only recommendation is, it's not Brisbane.

So our new Barina is pretty much exactly like ODD's, just a darker blue & with real leather instead of vinyl ~ & not brand spanking new.  Bonus, because I was the one driving it home.  Mind you, I would have asked to anyway simply because it keeps the carsickness @ bay if I'm driving instead of just swaying about in a back seat.

The MOTH, like Chile Girl, has an internal map in his head, so I followed him out onto the highway while both He & his mum watched their rear view mirrors anxiously.  I am not known for being the calmest & most sedate of drivers & traffic makes me inordinately anxious.  Usually I am fine one I hit the highway.  Speed doesn't bother me & I can read the signposts.

However roadworks meant the truck traffic had backed up & we were constantly surrounded by huge semis that didn't acknowledge lane lines & thought hogging half my lane as well as their own was the way to go.  The MOTH sat in the middle lane & let everything go around us while I talked to the Holy Spirit.

Now  I used to upset the Chile Girl no end when she drove with me because no matter how heavy the traffic was I would always have this little bubble of 2~3 car spaces all around me & she could never figure out how I managed it when really, it is very simple.  The Lord knows how much I hate traffic & being hemmed in so He invariably organised my carless bubble to reduce my stress.

Coming out of Ipswich I was terrified of losing the MOTH in the traffic because I have absolutely no sense of direction & the MOTH's track record in this regard is not terrific. The Lord & I worked out the required space necessary to prevent tailgating while shutting down any would be lane hoppers, which left the merging traffic...& you know, every time a merging lane arrived I watched this long, long stream of cars plunge into the eastward flow ~ until we got there!  For those few seconds there wasn't a car in sight.  Once we were past there were cars galore again.  My Lord is so good to me!  Eat your heart out, Chile Girl!

Once we were back on home territory & it didn't matter any more I did lose the MOTH but I just toddled along to our prearranged car park & breathed a sigh of relief that we had all arrived in one piece.  I will go over to the mainland soon to buy seat covers & a sun visor to protect the insides as the car won't be under cover but she is a lovely little car to drive & we are both very happy with it.